Ludicrously small number present: Dave Bone, Al Metelko and Ian Crook.

After much adjustment of gear all 3 members, 2 mountain bikes & luggage were packed into one vehicle for the M6. A tour of the outskirts of Carlisle (next time come in from the North), a shopping trip and a healthy visit to McDonalds for 2, ensured a later than anticipated arrival at the end of the dead end road off Clatteringshaws Loch in Galloway at 10:30pm. Strangely there was another car sitting there but it left shortly after. Well the idea had been to walk (meet leader) and cycle 4 miles or so to the Bothy for the night but 2 weren't so keen by that stage, so it was bivvy bags out on the roadside. A clear starlit night, with some dampness lying around.

Ian was told an 8am start, but we didn't tell him the time at 6am. Still clear, but oh my, 4°C in August! This ensured breakfast was quick and a quick pack made. The meet leader trudged up the forest track, fully expecting to be overtaken in a mile, but was surprisingly only half a mile short of the bothy before being fully overtaken, with Al darkly muttering of a sore posterior. The bothy now had an eclectic collection of transport outside, tow mountain bikes, two trail bikes, a quad-bike and a Horse and buggy. Apparently the Horse does 40 miles a day on one bale of hay?

It was not yet 9am and most of the inhabitants weren't up so gear was dumped and the team for the crag, Cooran Buttress, Dungeon of Buchan through various breaks in the forest and grass to waist height. The Silver Flowe bog was dry and barely merited the description of bog! Weather was perfect, light winds, unbroken sunshine (but a little cloud later) and perfect temperature. The team tackled the 3 pitch routes (conveniently one pitch per person) 'The Colonel's Corner' [HVS] and 'Heir Apparent' [E1], closely observed and criticised by the herd of very large feral goats. Very good routes and more crack lines to go at on the upper crag and with excellent views over the Galloway hills. No midges either, until the sun dipped behind the hill late in the afternoon so a retreat was beaten to the now deserted bothy.

Day 2 saw an early morning exodus down the track to the car (Al spotted pushing the bike at one point) and a drive to Craigdews - a crag in the wild goat park. Plenty of goats but they ignored us when they saw we wouldn't feed them. A few routes were described in the new routes section of the SMC journal and 10mins from the car park. A 3 pitch HVS was selected for starters. This proved very exciting, poor gear (on the first 2 pitches) and delicate climbing gave a reappraisal of a good E1. Nice to second. However, no more routes were done here as the others were put off by the meet leader beating off swarms of ticks doing their own climbing up my legs. I had the advantage of wearing light coloured trousers so could see them coming - the others had dark clothing and couldn't, but could imagine them!

As was not lost as we stopped off in Warton Quarry on the way back so Al could climb his E1 and never have to visit it again. As usual with Al present, we finished with just enough light to descend without falling into the quarry. A fine weekend, and where were the rest of you wimps?

The Prime target for this weekend is the "Dungeon of Buchan" in the Galloway hills. Grid Ref 462-848 on map OS77. Guidebook is the SMC "Lowland Outcrops" - never fear, photocopies will be available.It's been on the hit list for some time? To quote, "Three excellent SE facing crags of sound clean granite set in splendid isolation above the twin Lochs of the Dungeon". Only developed in 1991, routes are 35 or 130m long with a smattering of stars. Routes: VD (1), HS (1), VS (4), HVS (3), E1 (7), E2 (2), E3 (2). Other crag possibilities exist. I can vouch for the quality of the hill walking in this exceedingly rough country, having been this way on a round of the 3 Corbetts hereabouts in the late 80's. The area abounds in facinating names: "Curlywee, Rig of the Jarkness, Mid Lump, Lump of the Eglin?" Sport climbers need not apply - one disadvantage is it's not a roadside crag, but there is an advantage - it's not a roadside crag! The base will be a bothy but a backup tent or two could be advised, not knowing how occupied it will be.

A plan is, drive up the M6/M74 start on the Friday evening (hopefully taking an early afternoon off work to allow an arrival in the light) in as few cars as possible. Take the A75 past Dumfries, turn off onto the A712 on Crocketford, through New Galloway, turn off N just past Clatteringshaws Loch, on the dead end road to park at road's end just before Craigencallie House (GR503-779). Estimated time 4hours. Start walking on Forest roads (flat after the early 50m ascent). Those with Bikes could usefully employ them here but will be carrying more than their fair share of the load! It's ~4.5miles to the Backhill of Bush bothy at GR480-843, or longer if you take the wrong turning! Next day, skirt the edge of the forest around the Silver Flowe and climb (Crag is 1.5miles from the bothy). A look at the map will show one contour in 500m in the Flowe, which will tell you it's a bog! An SSSI to be exact. It will also indicate an essential item of kit is a large container of the most powerful insect repellant available, and pray for wind! Remember, the midges are protected here! On Sunday, anyone with unfinished routes can return to the Dungeon. An alternative for those leaving early is to climb a route or two on Craigencallie crag, which is only 10mins or so from the cars. The last item of kit should be anti-caravan missiles for the return home on the A75, which can be slower than you think.

Hope to see a good selection of adventurous souls fed up with the Peak. The bothy would be a good base for a walk too. Poor weather alternatives may include the Galloway sea cliffs. Check in the week before or see me at the Pub for revised plans just before, once there are indications of the weather prospects. Pick up a map/guide copy too. We don't want KMC members lost in the vast Galloway forests!